LIKE BARKING DOGS
Some places you can know only by walking them. We moved to Porto Alegre almost two years ago and I am still discovering new streets, plazas, and oddities in our neighborhood. Near busy streets the sound of traffic blares, but just one block into a residential area and things become quiet. Until the dogs start barking.
For every resident of our city there must be at least one dog, like it’s a law or something. There are dogs barking out of windows. They bark from balconies too. As I walk by a fence, there are even more dogs barking. And they feed off each other.
My daughter and I have labeled one block near our home the “dog block,” because in a cacophony of nearly comical proportions each home on this block has more than one screaming dog. As you merely take steps on the sidewalk for a good minute you will walk past at least ten dogs who all react as if you have just committed a capital crime and are trying to escape quietly on foot.
By now you might be able to tell that I’m a cat person. I am, but I understand why people love dogs. I also understand why dogs bark. It’s in their nature. And their barking can serve some good when trouble comes.
But I can’t help but think about the unlimited barking dogs of my neighborhood when I come home and check social media these days. We get caught up barking at everything that walks by, whether it’s worth barking at or not.
Years ago, people lamented that the news cycle was only 48 hours long. Now it’s only 48 minutes. There’s always something new, yes, but with information overload we are limited to responding to it well, so we just bark until we find something new to bark at.
But we’re not dogs, we’re humans. Our master is to be God in whose image and likeness we have been created. Our nature, when not so corrupted by sin, is to love and do good works. And right now we’re distracted.
I don’t know what the future holds. History tells me there are ebbs and flows. The Bible tells me to live for and even hasten the day of the Lord’s returning by focusing on holiness and godliness (2 Pet 3:12). And in the meantime, may I faithfully fulfill the calling God has given me; may I love and serve my neighbors by God’s grace.
It’s easy to get distracted, but when we bark at everything we’ll get tuned out. Or at least that’s how I imagine the poor humans who live on the “dog block” keep their sanity.